Stocks to watch

Stocks of interest at the close of trade on the ASX on Thursday, November 1:

BHP - BHP BILLITON - up 90 cents, or 2.79 per cent, to $33.11

BHP is returning $US10.4 billion to shareholders in the form of an off-market buyback and special dividend following the sale of its US onshore sale assets. It says a $US5.2 billion buyback will start immediately.

AMP - AMP LIMITED - up 17 cents, or 6.88 per cent, to $2.64

AMP shares also soared early on speculation Macquarie Group was eyeing a takeover, with stocks in the under-fire wealth manager up 8.9 per cent to $2.69.

CWN - CROWN RESORTS - down 25 cents, or two per cent, to $12.26

At Crown's annual general meeting on Thursday it said revenue from main floor gaming for July 1 to October 28 was down 0.6 per cent on the prior corresponding period, while non-gaming revenue was up 3.5 per cent.

NAB - NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK - up 14 cents, or 0.56 per cent, to $25.35

NAB's full-year profit dropped 14.2 per cent to $5.7 billion on restructuring costs and $360 million of customer remediation. The other three major lenders were down.